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Valet Self-Storage Startup Simplify Launches in New York City

Mar 06, 2019

Simplify Valet Storage, a startup that opened last year, has launched service in the five boroughs of New York City. The company uses an online platform that allows customers to schedule item pickup, maintain a visual catalog of stored belongings, and schedule delivery of specific bins or bulky items to their home or business.

Similar to other valet-style storage operators, Simplify offers by-the-bin storage targeted at customers who don’t have adequate storage in their home or workplace. Items are stored in a climate-controlled warehouse in Long Island City, N.Y., according to its website. Monthly pricing starts at $30 per month for five bins, which are 3 cubic feet each. Extra bins are available for $6 per container. Customers are discouraged from using their own boxes, unless they choose the company’s unit-storage option. If they insist, personal boxes will be charged the same as an oversized item, which is $30 per month each.

For customers who require more storage space, Simplify offers options at 200 and 400 cubic feet. Monthly rates run $130 and $230, respectively. The company also charges a moving fee of $50 per hour, though the first hour is free. There are no minimum-stay requirements with either the bin or storage-space options.

Customers can request return deliveries of bins through the Simplify dashboard. The company will return bins within three hours, according to the website.

Though it’s currently using only the Long Island City warehouse, Simplify intends to create a logistics network of multiple sites to ensure a quick response for requested return deliveries.

Founder Donal O’Sullivan, who began his career in the construction industry in 1987, built the current warehouse. “He built a [storage warehouse] in Long Island City and saw the demand for space and how apartments are decreasing in size,” operations manager Jayline Pereira told the source. Simplify’s offices are in Midtown Manhattan.

Though Simplify is a newcomer to a crowded valet-storage market, the company intends to create a competitive advantage by building relationships with its customers. “We’re not an automated-based company, but one that has real representatives available by phone to solve any of their problems,” Pereira said.